JULY 15

JULY 15: GÜLENIST COUP ATTEMPT
DECODING THE GÜLENIST TERROR ORGANIZATION (FETO)
SCHOOLS: MAIN SOURCE
OF RECRUITS
There are more than 2,000 charter schools linked to the
Gülen Movement in 160 countries, some of which have
been shut down. Some of the charter schools in the U.S.
are under several FBI probes in four states. The FBI does
not comment on ongoing investigations. Charter schools
linked to the Gülen Movement in the U.S. are facing several
probes by the FBI in four states, although the FBI does
not comment on ongoing probes. They reportedly concern
improper business practices by the charter school chains,
the largest of their kind in the country. Several schools
affiliated with the movement have already closed. Since the
coup attempt, the Turkish state has closed down hundreds
of Gülen schools and dozens of Gülen Movement-affiliated
universities. Almost all of these institutions were already
under investigation, but the strong presence of Gülenist
infiltrators in the judiciary and other parts of the state
apparatus assured the investigations continue slowly.
When asking a random person in a Turkish village if they
know a member of the Gülenist Terror Organization (FETO),
they would probably point to a member of their family
or other relative and explain how that person joined the
organization. The majority of recruits start when Anatolian
families are deceived by members of the organization who
promise to raise their children according to the morals of
their faith to be useful citizens of the country.
MEDIA EMPIRE A
PROPAGANDA TOOL
During the years Gülenists infiltrated the state, they used
Gülenist media outlets to justify their state of mind and to
manipulate the people’s perception. Promoting itself as the
newspaper with the widest circulation for years, the Zaman
newspaper was little more than a mouthpiece of a secret
group of Gülenist conspirators led by Gülen that sold a few
copies to the public and created a phantom readership through
manipulation and coercion. It was not only Zaman, it had dozens
of dailies, magazines and TV and radio stations to use for its
manipulation operations. The media exposed Gülenists’ false
claims of having the best-selling newspaper and videos showed
that Gülenist executives were recycling most of the print copies
even before newspapers reached readers. They forced many
people having sympathy for the movement to subscribe their
newspaper, and they gave the newspaper for free to increase
daily circulation.
However, although the numbers were false, the organization
was able to open doors for itself in Turkey and abroad by saying
that it had the country’s best-selling newspaper.
Anyone in Turkey has the right to defend their stance with
their media, but creating news articles to be used against their
opponents in criminal investigations, targeting all those who
stood in its way and silencing critical people. The then editorin-chief
of Zaman, Ekrem Dumanlı, in a televised interview in
September 2015, said that either Erdoğan would leave by his
own free will or he would be pushed to leave the post.
COMPULSORY DONATIONS,
EXPLOITING FUNDRAISING
TO FINANCE ORGANIZATION
It is compulsory for the members of the organization
to pay 20 percent of their income to those in charge
in the hierarchy or directly to one of their fundraising
organizations, such as the charity foundation Kimse
Yok Mu. The FETO has dozens of charity organizations
and investigations revealed that these did not register
charity donations in its bank account and took donations
abroad without the knowledge of related government
institutions. FETO used charity money taken from its
members for the organization’s secret agenda.
SECRET AGENDAS OF
GÜLEN’S INTERFAITH
ACTIVITIES
In the name of advocating peace, Gülen and his followers
run numerous interfaith dialogue societies, such as
the U.S.-based Rumi Forum and the Dialogue Society
branches across the Europe. The organization – which is
not welcomed by the majority of Muslim societies – uses
the interfaith dialogue as a tool in the Western world, to
push those countries tolerating their activities.
BUREAUCRACY: NO NEED FOR
POLITICAL PARTY TO FIDDLE
Looking at all the developments since the 1970s,
including the coups in 1980 and 1997, which Gülen
supported, Gülen did not establish a political party,
but rather lent support to those who were in power.
However, his stance of siding with the ruling party
ended when he thought he had become powerful
enough due to having agents in all segments of
the state to topple the government in 2013. When
considering ousting the leader of the main opposition
party through a sex tape scandal, wiretapping
thousands of people, including top government
and military officials, and infiltrators in all political
parties, Gülen apparently thought it was time to have
complete power over politics and the bureaucracy.
He then started looking for new allies, from
ultra-nationalist figures to leftists and pro-Kurdish
politicians. Although his followers in the judiciary
sent thousands of Kurds to prison in the famed
Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) case in 2011 and
2012, Gülen and his media extended support to a
political party representing these people in the latest
elections. The sole aim was to curb support for the
ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party)
that fights to cleanse the Gülenist “virus” from the
country.
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